April 8: What April showers bring

Get out of my garden! And take that horrible weed you're hanging out on with you.

Tuesday, April 7
This sweetheart is part of a feral cat colony in my neighborhood, and I think she may be one of the last. About five years ago a group came in to trap, sterilize and release them; the notch in her left ear signifies she was part of this procedure. Her markings and coloring are beautiful, very much like a cat I had growing up, and that makes her my special favorite (shhh!). I couldn't believe how close she let me get to her today!

Monday, April 6: Dinner
We're total asparagus junkies. The only cure is June, but by then we'll be tomato junkies.

Sunday, April 5
The whirligig sculpture outside the performing arts center. It stands in the center of a fountain and today was making lazy revolutions around its opalescent glass center.

Saturday, April 4

We couldn't resist heading to Pulgas Ridge to enjoy the gorgeous weather.

 

After the hike we stopped for ice cream. I had just said we should wait for Gisi to finish her ice cream before heading home when she cracked us all up by popping the whole thing in her mouth. The camera caught her mid-gulp.

Visits with Nerissa and Gisi are few and far between... so we're making the most of the weekend.

Still Catching Up...

Saturday, March 28 This project is turning into Simon 365! He shows up here at least a couple times a week. How can I help it? He's such a handsome boy with quirks and personality to spare, he's usually up to something fun or naughty, and the camera loves him.

Friday, March 27

 

My nephew, or perhaps my niece. Can't wait to meet this angel in July.

Thursday, March 26: Hopelessly Devoted to... Ryan Seacrest? Well no, but as host of a show I managed to completely disregard for 8 years but am now addicted to, he makes a twice weekly appearance in our home.

Catching up

Wednesday, March 25

I surprised Mr Time on his hands with a new gadget--a Kindle. He was pretty much speechless!

Tuesday, March 24

A spontaneous evening out with friends at one of our favorite local spots.

Monday, March 23

So this is where all the pear tree blossoms went!

Sunday, March 22


Two for today: inside and out.

Saturday, March 21

On a letterboxing excursion with Katie. It's in this oleander somewhere... :)

Friday, March 20 First Day of Spring

Another shot of the pear trees in the front yard. It's been so fun to watch them transform over the past couple of weeks into their current leafy spring wardrobe.

March 18

 

The sink needed to be disconnected when the counter was installed. Here is Mr. Time on Her Hands explaining why hooking the plumbing back up is trickier than he thought.

March 17: It's not easy being green

This poor frog! One eye dangles from its socket by a black thread, it now has somewhat fewer than its original 12 toes, and its "fur" is dingy and matted and always sort of damp.

March 16

The area where my neighborhood is used to be orchards. Sometimes you can find evidence of that, like in this lot across the street.

March 15

Brunch with B. We chat all through brunch, then run some errands, then chat some more at home, then walk her to her car, which turns into chatting on the sidewalk!

March 14

March 11

Tomato plants in the ground in mid-March! Hopefully in 65 days (give or take) we'll have tomatoes.

The time change is so disruptive and feels awful for the first couple of days, but I appreciate the extra daylight after work to get things done in the garden. This year, I'm planting the tomato starts really deep--right up to the crowns--as an experiment. This is a new variety for our garden: "Oregon Spring." It will be our only full-sized tomato amongst cherry and grape-sizes this year, and it's supposed to be an early cool-season variety. In this photo you can see the nearby onions on the right, carrots on the left, and broccoli in the back. It's still too wet to put out the grid, so it's hard to tell, but this is my "square foot garden."

March 10

Ta-da! The counter tops were installed today! I'm so proud of them--I think they look terrific, and they are made by a local company from recycled green glass bottles which is pretty cool.

March 9

Those anemones planted up and sitting on my front porch. I've missed having flowers here.

March 8

I can always count on the Farmers' Market for a good photo opportunity but I forgot about Daylight Savings Time and got a late start. So many of our usual stalls were out of things, but that led me to keep my eyes open for new things. After such a rainy week, I couldn't leave those bright anemones behind, and the first sight of tomato seedlings nearly had me swooning. I picked up Sweet 100s and Mr. Time on Her Hands picked out an early tomato with a really whimsical name. The Sun Golds were gone but the vendor promised me he'd save me one next week. And of course, Simon the Sneak had to check things out.

March 7

Credits:
Alpha from Fresh Cut by Kristen Cronin-Barrow
Papers from Just for You by New Life Dreams
Template #8 by Sweet Tomato

March 6

Nobody protested too hard when I suggested I stop by In-N-Out on my way home from work!

March 5

The pear trees have gone from buds to blossoms in a week's time.

March 4

This double rainbow caught my eye on my way to work this morning. It was an incredible sight.

March 3

Today's menu.

March 2

This photo of water shooting out of an overflowing rain gutter reminds me of this excerpt from "All Summer in a Day," by Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite stories:

...thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands.

None of the changes I made to this picture in Picasa or PhotoShop show up here at all--the photo just reverts to the original snapshot when I upload to Blogger. It's frustrating.

March 1

Our Sunday evening ritual: playing Warhammer Online. I know, so geeky, right? Luckily, we have the supervisor on nerd patrol!